Gmail + Calendar: Appointment Detection from Emails
Auto-detect appointments mentioned in emails and create Google Calendar events so nothing slips through the cracks.
What You Will Get
After this setup, your OpenClaw agent will scan incoming emails for mentions of appointments, meetings, and scheduled events, then automatically create corresponding Google Calendar entries. Confirmation emails, meeting invitations buried in email threads, and casual scheduling mentions all get captured on your calendar.
People often schedule things via email without sending a formal calendar invitation. A dentist appointment confirmation, a lunch meeting mentioned in a thread, or a call time discussed in an email chain can easily be forgotten. Your agent catches these and adds them to your calendar.
The detection works by analyzing email content for date, time, and location patterns. When a match is found, the agent creates a tentative calendar event and optionally asks for your confirmation before finalizing it. This bridges the gap between email scheduling and calendar management.
Step-by-Step Setup
Configure automatic appointment detection from Gmail to Google Calendar.
Verify Both Connections
Ensure both Gmail and Google Calendar are connected in your RunTheAgent dashboard. The agent needs Gmail read access to scan emails and Calendar write access to create events. If either is missing, set up the connection following the respective integration guides.
Enable Appointment Detection
In your agent settings, navigate to the Automations section and enable the Gmail-to-Calendar appointment detection feature. This activates the content scanning engine that analyzes incoming emails for scheduling-related content. The feature starts processing new emails immediately after activation.
Configure Detection Sensitivity
Set the detection sensitivity level. High sensitivity catches more mentions but may produce false positives. Medium is balanced and recommended for most users. Low sensitivity only detects explicit appointment confirmations with clear dates and times. Start with medium and adjust based on the results you observe.
Set Up Confirmation Mode
Choose whether the agent creates events automatically or asks for confirmation first. In confirmation mode, the agent sends you a message with the detected appointment details and asks you to approve before creating the calendar event. Auto-create mode adds events without asking, which is faster but may create unwanted entries.
Configure Event Defaults
Set default values for detected appointments. Choose a default duration (60 minutes works for most), a default reminder time, and a default calendar to add events to. The agent uses these defaults when the email does not specify a duration or other details. You can adjust individual events after creation.
Define Email Source Filters
Narrow down which emails are scanned for appointments. You can restrict scanning to specific senders, labels, or email categories. For example, scan only emails from known contacts or emails in the Primary category. This reduces false positives from marketing emails and newsletters that mention dates.
Test the Detection Pipeline
Send yourself a test email with an appointment mention, such as: Let's meet for coffee on Friday at 3pm at the downtown cafe. Wait for the agent to process it and check whether a calendar event is created or a confirmation request is sent. Test with various formats: formal invitations, casual mentions, and ambiguous references.
Tips and Best Practices
Start with Confirmation Mode
Use confirmation mode for the first week to train yourself on the agent's accuracy. Once you see that detections are consistently correct, switch to auto-create for convenience.
Exclude Marketing Emails
Filter out marketing emails and newsletters from detection scanning. These often contain date-like content that triggers false positives and clutters your calendar.
Review Weekly
Check your calendar weekly for any incorrectly created events. Delete false positives and refine the detection rules based on patterns you notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Pages
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